Devotees of Joan of Arc were disppointed recently to learn that relices of Joan of Arc, overseen by the Archbishop of Tours in Chinon, France, are not only fake, but actually the "bones of a human and a cat tracing back to ancient Egypt."

Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France, was known for her youthful looks, which kept the interest of the king, twenty years her junior, but did her vanity and desperation lead to her death? Experts believe they did.

Beginning March 2, 2010, the Belles Heures (1405–1408/9) of Jean de Berry, a lavishly-illustrated manuscript, will be on display at the Cloisters Museum in New York. The unbound leaves will remain on display until June 13, 2010. (video)

History professor Valerie Garver knows that women faced challenges in the medieval world, but believes that they still played an important role in the world of Charlemagne. Garver's book, Women and Aristocratic Culture in the Carolingian World has been published by Cornell University Press.

The Battle of Agincourt took place on St. Crispin’s Day, October 25, 1415, and the details of the victory of the English over the French has been debated since that time. In a recent article for the New York Times, James Glanz looks at the controversy which continues to this day.

On October 29, 2009, Gaul's most famous denizon, Asterix, celebrated his Lth birthday. (That would be 50 to the Roman-numerically-challenged.) The comic book character was created in 1959 by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo.

Nestled between the Rhône and the Saône rivers in east-central France, the city of Lyon offers visitors 2,000 years of history. Tourists are encouraged to visit by Andrea Bolitho in a recent blog forFrance Today.

This web site, created by Dr. Adrian Bell of the ICMA Centre and Professor Anne Curry of the University of Southampton (UK) and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, catalogs all known service records for soldiers in the Hundred Years War between 1369 and 1453 CE.

When asked the best way to view the Roman heritage of France, Patrick Périn, the director of the Musée des Antiquités Nationales replied, "Go South." That is what travel reporter Elaine Sciolino did to research her article for the New York Times. (photos)

Sir Angus O'Niall, Founder of the Academy of Knightly Arts, reports that French National television recently covered a documentary in which he participated involving "a bunch of steel fighters" who fought tournaments in castles in southern France.

Was Leonardo da Vinci, "poet, musician, philosopher, engineer, architect, scientist, mathematician, anatomist, inventor, architect and botanist," the true Renaissance man, or was he just a "frustrating dilettante?" Curators of the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, France, da Vinci's last home, are betting on the former and hope for the success of their "world's first "intellectual and cultural theme park."

A recent archaeological dig sponsored by the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives and the ARTeHIS Laboratory (CNRS/Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication/Université de Bourgogne) shows that the production of burgundy wine near Dijon, France dates to Roman times.

Writer, chef, and cooking school owner Susan Herrmann Loomis suspects that spirits may inhabit one room of her 12th century house in Louviers, a small Norman town north of Paris. Ronert P. Walzer of the New York Times looks at Loomis' renovation of the labyrinthan house into a home and cooking school.

The Treasures of the Black Death exhibit at London's Wallace Collection showcase two hoards of medieval jewelry dating to the 14th century. The treasures were owned - and buried with - Jewish families who perished during the Black Plague. (photos)

An authentic chainmail hauberk is being offered for sale on eBay. According to the description, the 14th to 15th century piece is "of highest quality and in perfect condition of preservation," although it appears to be missing one sleeve.

The remains of several Benedictine nuns from the Sainte-Croix Abbey near Poitiers, France have shown evidence that the sisters died of the plague, probably while caring for other victims of the disease. Their deaths have been dated to the early 17th century.

In a strange footnote to the Hundred Years' War, a Sienese merchant named Giannino di Guccio came to believe that he was actually King Jean I of France. A new book, translated from Italian, he Man Who Believed He Was King of France by Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri, tells the story.